that thing you do

Everyone is different, so I assume that "this thing that you do" is different for everyone. But I really, really hope that everyone has that thing. There is no better feeling than doing something that you love, doing something that makes you feel refreshed, doing something solely because that is what you want to do. 

After my husband and I ran our first half marathon, we decided that we were going to keep on running five miles at least a couple times a week to stay in shape. But life said, "haha, yeah right." We got super busy and I do not remember one time after our half marathon that we ran five miles. Every once in a while, we would squeeze in a short couple mile run, but it wasn't a regular thing, and unfortunately, we lost our endurance, fast. About a year later we decided to do it again.  After our first run, I couldn't believe how amazing I felt... Mentally.... not necessarily physically, that is another story. I feel like t

After that experience, I realized the importance in doing that thing that you love doing, just because you want to. I can't believe how much better I feel. I know that exercising is a great high, but that's not what I'm getting at. It is just doing things because you want to, doing things because all day long you do the things that you have to do. You do school, you do work, you do cooking and dishes and laundry, because those are the things you HAVE to, but among those things don't forget to do the things that you love to do. You will feel less stressed, happier, and more willing to do those things that you have to do.

the internal struggle

I feel like I'm a person who has an adventurous heart, and an over-analyzing mind. As you may guess, these two parts of me tend to really get in some pretty big fights. I always have the desire to do crazy things, like go sky diving for example, like I really really want to go. Until my friends ask me if I want to go with them next week. That's when my over-analyzing mind jumps in the the ring and starts to take charge. Then I'm all the sudden like, "sitting home in my nice, comfortable home, doing my normal Saturday activities sounds really great." But then my heart takes a shot at my mind and is like "NO! You are breaking all my wildest hopes and dreams!" Seriously, the struggle is that real.

So the latest brawl that has been going on in my head is about whether or not my husband and I should go on a study abroad together in May. Everyone is always quick to say YES OF COURSE! and honestly, that's what I said too when my husband brought it up. But then it got more realistic, and my mind started punching back. "It could be hard," it jabbed, "it's so expensive," it kicked, "THAT'S A DOWN PAYMENT ON A HOUSE," it roundhouse kicked my heart in the face (what? Yeah I don't know either). So what do I do? Well I don't really know. But one of my biggest fears is that my mind will get the best of me and keep me from doing all the fun things in the world. I hope that just knowing that that is how I work, will help me to remember NOT to let that happen.

presentation realization

I never do presentations. Like ever. I think the last time that I had to present something may have been my country report in 6th grade... not even kidding. In my major, Communication Disorders, the classes grades are based mainly off of tests. So last week doing my flip-chart presentation was pretty intimidating, I'm not going to lie. However, I am very happy with the way that it went and I feel like I learned a lot about how to be a great presenter. 

Being a good presenter is a lot more important than I ever realized, and it can be applicable in many more situations than I realized. I can use the skills that I learned in anything from teaching a class to giving a talk in church to interviewing. 

Presenting is all about connecting with the audience. If you give a presentation and don't connect with the audience, then what is the point? (Unless it's for a class and you are just doing it to get a grade... but then again, you would still be trying to connect with whoever is grading you, right?) I came to this realization after I was done presenting and it is something that I am going to always remember when I am planning a presentation! 

online interview

The online interview was a lot different than I thought it would. The environment was unlike any interview environment I had been in before. I am glad that I was able to practice before doing it for an actual interview. I was surprised at how professional an online interview could be. I liked that I was able to have my application and a few notes in front of me to reference throughout the interview. I thought that it was hard to have eye contact during the interview because I felt that if I was looking at the camera then I wasn't looking at the interviewer, but if I was looking at his face, then on his side it looked like I wasn't looking at him. The eye contact was definitely the hardest part to balance throughout the interview. I also realized part way through the interview that I didn't have very great posture and that it was noticeable on the screen, so that is something else that I could work on. Overall, I felt that it was very successful and a great learning experience!